Rocket Ships & Sailing Ships

Rocketman and yoga teacher prepare to sail around the world in a Fast Passage 39 sailboat.

Hello, and welcome to our first blog post! My name is Abbey, and I created this website to document our journey with Atlantean, our Fast Passage 39, and to meet and collaborate with like-minded individuals from around the world. This being our first post, I wanted to give some history.

Hermosa Beach, California. 2021

Adam and I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, but despite having mutual friends, we never met until July 2021. We even worked in the same building but at different times. Adam worked seasonally at the Lift House, a ski shop, for ten years. It's not anymore, but it used to be located right below Porcupine Pub & Grill, where I worked for four years.

When we first met, Adam was living in Los Angeles. He had moved there five years prior to work for SpaceX, but he was staying at his mother's house in Utah while recovering from his first back surgery.

Little Abbey in Redondo Beach with her family

We met online, and the timing couldn't have been better. I had just graduated from college with a degree in American Sign Language, and for work, I was teaching yoga and waitressing. My dad spent much of his adult life in Southern California, always taking us on trips to the beach, and it had been a lifelong dream of mine to follow in his footsteps and live near the ocean. That's why quitting my job and packing up my studio apartment in downtown Salt Lake City didn't take much time or convincing. I was on my way to sunny LA within three months of meeting Adam.

"I'm going to sail around the world... do you think you're up for something like that?"

Almost immediately after meeting Adam, he shared with me his dream of sailing around the world, and I can still remember when he first told me, "I'm planning on sailing my boat around the world." I thought he was crazy... or at least unrealistic, overly optimistic, etc., but knowing what I know today, I can confidently say that Adam is none of those things. He's the most logical, realistic, reasonable person I know; he's just wildly adventurous, incredibly brave, hardworking, and dreams bigger than anyone I know.

Sailing from Phuket, Thailand, to the Philippines in 2011

Thailand, 2011

Adam has dreamed of sailing around the world since 2011, when he sailed from Phuket, Thailand, to the Philippines. Ten years later, while living in Los Angeles, and before he met me, he purchased Catbird, a NorWest 33. After we met, we sailed Catbird together for a year before coming to terms with the fact that in order to increase our chances of sailing long-term, more space was a necessity. After we set our eyes on Atlantean, the rest was history. Catbird was sold to the first couple we showed her to, and although it was sad to say goodbye, we knew Atlantean was a better fit for us. The boat had already circumnavigated, and knowing she was up for the task comforted us both.

In May 2022, two of Adam's friends helped us sail Atlantean from Seattle to her new home in San Pedro, California. The trip was incredible. We spent 11 days at sea, each of us only having a single 3-hour shift per night. We experienced the most surreal sunrises, and my severe seasickness disappeared after three days. Before our last leg home, we anchored overnight in the Channel Islands before completing our route home. It was leaving the island at night when dolphins swam in our bioluminescent wake.

"Progress is progress."

Fast-forward to today: We are about to have a fully rebuilt engine, which will be a huge relief after having had it in the shop for the past six months. Adam does all the work himself, only hiring out for limited jobs, which means we always have things to do and many projects in the works. I never knew this about about sailboats before, but it seems the more work you do on them, the longer your list of to-do's becomes.

St. Croix, USVI. 2023

Thanks for reading and supporting our journey. Please find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube for daily content.

We look forward to sharing our story with you as it progresses!

Gratefully,

Abbey